Small plane crashes onto the 405 Freeway in Orange County Top News

A small twin-engine airplane burst into flames as it crash-landed on the 405 Freeway in Santa Ana on Friday shortly after taking off from John Wayne Airport.

Two people were on board the Cessna 310 when it crashed, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA.

The plane had just taken off from John Wayne Airport when the pilot declared an emergency, Gregor said. The pilot was trying to return to the airport when the crash occurred.

Both occupants of the aircraft survived the crash and were rushed to local trauma centers, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz. He said a man and a woman in their 60s were pulled from the burning plane by an off-duty Avalon firefighter.

The plane landed in the southbound lanes of the freeway, just north of MacArthur Boulevard — next to the airport — about 9:30 a.m., CHP Officer Latos Quin said.

Images and video from the scene showed the belly of the aircraft slamming into the freeway and the plane bursting into flames as a tower of smoke rose above.

Astonishingly, no motorists on the busy freeway were injured.

The northbound lanes of the 405 were reopened by 10:15 a.m., and traffic was flowing normally.

The plane crashed short of the airport runway, Gregor said. All arrivals to John Wayne Airport were closed temporarily but since have reopened, airport officials said. Departures were not affected.

The plane was manufactured in 1975 and registered to Twin Props LLC in Santa Ana, FAA records show.

The crash kept the 405 freeway’s southbound lanes closed for more than 90 minutes. The only vehicles that appeared to be moving past the crash were commuters transitioning from the northbound 55 Freeway.

Crews were working to clear enough area to open some southbound lanes for 405 commuters, Kurtz said.

“It sounded like a car crash. Then we heard all these sirens, and we just looked out and could see all the smoke,” said Brad Schaeffer, 24, who works about two blocks away from the crash site. “We walked over and saw people rushing over to the planes.”